In 2017, guitarist/bassist Markus Bünnemeyer decided to use his many years of experience as an active musician (e.g. Thrashhammer, Slaughterday) and metal fan to start a new Death Metal band. Songs in the spirit of old Death Metal heroes like Death, Benediction, Pestilence, Morgoth etc. should be created. Together with his school friend Frank Albers he developed a concept for the project Temple of Dread. Bünnemeyer started composing songs and Albers wrote the lyrics.
In 2018 the first songs were worked on. The music clearly pays homage to fast old school Death Metal, but a very own style emerged. On the one hand this might be due to Bünnemeyer's special residence - the North Sea island Spiekeroog - the islanders are usually said to have a mind of their own. On the other hand, it is also due to the creativity arisen from many years of experience.
The lyrics of Temple of Dread are also remarkable. Albers - psychologist and extreme metal aficionado - writes about the generally threatening, suffering and human abysses. However, he writes his lyrics in a way a little untypical for Death Metal and seasons them with portions of dark black humour.
After the main features of the first songs were finished, the search for a drummer and a vocalist began. The quality of the song material convinced Jörg Uken (drums, Soundlodge Studios, Slaughterday, ex-Stormwarrior, ex-Rumble Militia and many more) and Jens Finger (guitarist of Slaughterday, ex-Obscenity), who wanted to contribute the vocals, immediately.
The songs of the first album "Blood Craving Mantras" were recorded and mixed at Uken's Soundlodge studio in East Frisia (Germany) in winter 2018/2019. The results emthralled everyone involved in such a way that it became clear instantly that Bünnemeyer's project had to become more. The band Temple of Dread was born.
Tracklist:
1. 8:16 AM
2. Suffocate the Fire
3. Sentenced to Life
4. A Question of Honor
5. Now You Will Die
6. Straying the Battlefields
7. Gone but Still Here
8. Cottage in the Backyard